1564 — “If people see a wrongdoer and do not restrain him, Allah will soon encompass them all in a punishment from Him.”
It was recorded by Ahmad (nos. 1, 16, 29, and 53), Abu Dawud (2/217), al-Tirmidhi (2/25 and 177), Ibn Majah (2/484), al-Tahawi in Mushkil al-Athar (2/62–64), al-Diya in al-Ahadith al-Mukhtarah (nos. 54–58, edited and verified by me), and others, through numerous chains from Ismaʿil ibn Abi Khalid, from Qays ibn Abi Hazim, from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, who said: “O people, you recite this verse: ‘O you who believe, take care of yourselves. Those who go astray will not harm you when you are rightly guided.’ Yet I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say...” He then mentioned it.
Al-Tirmidhi—whose wording is cited above—said: “This is a good, authentic hadith.” He noted that the transmitters differed over whether it was attributed to the Prophet or attributed to the Companion—meaning, in their narration from Ismaʿil. In my view, the stronger position is that it is attributed to the Prophet, as will be explained below. For this reason, Imam al-Nawawi also declared it authentic in Riyad al-Salihin (no. 202, edited and verified by me). See also the second point in my introduction to it (pp. 10 and 36).
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said in his Exegesis (2/109): “This hadith was related by the four compilers of the Sunan, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, and others, through many chains, by a large number of transmitters from Ismaʿil ibn Abi Khalid, with a connected chain attributed to the Prophet. Some, however, narrated it from him as attributed to al-Siddiq [Abu Bakr]. Al-Daraqutni and others favoured the latter view.”
I say: There are two observations concerning this statement:
The first is his attributing the hadith to al-Nasa’i by his general reference to “the four,” while al-Mundhiri explicitly attributed it to him in al-Targhib (3/170), as did al-Nawawi and others. Yet I have not found it in al-Nasa’i’s shorter Sunan, nor did Shaykh al-Nabulsi attribute it to him in Dhakha’ir al-Mawarith, nor did al-Suyuti in al-Jamiʿ